Sensing a major opportunity in melding its web prowess with the massive worldwide television audience, Google has introduced a new platform that combines “the best of the web with the best of TV.” Google TV, which will be launching this fall, will be based on the company’s highly successful Android operating system.

Google TV will be built into TV sets, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes and will allow consumers to browse the web or watch video on their televisions. The platform will enable users to search for live content as well as scheduled programming. Users will also be able to schedule DVR recordings from their search results. Android phone-owning consumers will be able to control the devices with their phones, and Google’s hardware partners are also developing input devices.

NewTeeVee is also reporting that Google TV will offer the following:

Personalization through Netflix integration

Picture-in picture mode to access web content and live TV feeds

Bookmarks for websites as well as TV channels

Access to web-based media sites like Flickr

Other companies have tried to marry the television and the web with varying degrees of success. How do you think Google TV will do, Insiders? Would this service and its search capabilities make your home entertainment experience simpler/more enjoyable? Just how many boxes do you have room for on top of your TV set?

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11 Responses to “Google TV to Combine Television and the Web”

Remember the time when a common criticism of a computer was that it took a while to turn on, then it would be difficult to navigate, and it would inundate you with commercial ads? And when one would say “It’s not like my TV – I just turn it on, press a button and watch my program!” Well, no more! Welcome to the jungle of menus and ads that your TV is about to become!

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing! Loved my webbie but Microsoft couldn’t strike a good deal with our local phone company for a dedicated line for webtv/msntv so they dropped the free lines and I had to switch to an ISP in order to use it. I had a plus unit so that I could watch tv and be online at the same time. It was wonderful!!
This is nothing new. I just hope google supports this better than microsoft did webbie. I would have loved to be a beta tester for this one!

Sounds good to me so far, as I ‘ve been shopping around for an LED TV which allows PCs to be connected to it, thus the TV monitor would be the computer monitor. I have 2 converter box TVs..no satellite or cable, and wonder how to watch TV and be on the internet at the same time. Now….let’$ talk about price :)